Page 9 - HME Business, January/February 2021

says Tim Safley, program director for the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC; achc.org). “And that’s one of the things that people forget. There are other payers. ... If the [provider] itself is looking for other avenues of revenue, such as third-party payers, or even Medicaid, some of those still require accreditation.”
THE TYPICAL RENEWAL PROCESS
Renewal starts by internally reviewing the internal policies and procedures manual to see if there’s any need for revisions. This is important because it helps the provider ensure that they are living up to Medicare’s expectations for how they should be pro- visioning products and services for the categories they are sup- plying. Moreover, if they have new staff that has come on board since the last renewal and the provider wants to ensure they are living up to those policies and procedures.
“Even if the policies remain the same, create a document that states that the policies were reviewed and approved by whomev- er it is on a particular date, so that they can show they reviewed it when [the provider] is up for renewal, any accreditor is going to say, ‘Okay, show me where your policies have been reviewed,’” Canally explains. “And that’s a simplified way of performing that review: Check it off, write it, document it, and put it in the front of your policy manual.”
And once the policies and procedures are in place, the AO will conduct an unscheduled site survey with the provider.
“When they’re finished doing their work and are through the call series, they complete the form saying, ‘I’m ready; I’ve done all of my implementation work,’” Canally says. “Then, one of our other on-site advisors is the one that verifies and validates that they meet the quality standards.
“Once they complete the site survey, we’re going to send them a scoring report, a certificate of accreditation, and a letter of ac- creditation,” she continues. “At that point, they then put in their
Currently, the accrediting organizations are conducting the site survey component of accreditation renewal virtually ...
Form 855S, and list The Compliance Team as the accreditor.” “On a weekly basis, we send a report to CMS that includes all
of the companies that are accredited and the Medicare items that they’re accredited for and can bill for,” she adds.
However, thanks to COVID-19, things have changed. Certain elements of policies and procedures are more emphasized, and the site survey is now virtual, which represents a major change from the past. Let’s take a closer look.
SITE SURVEYS UNDER COVID-19
The major impact COVID-19 has had on the accreditation pro- cess is with site surveys, which are now handled remotely.
Now, it’s important to acknowledge that you might have heard that, around the time of HHS’s initial COVID-19 PHE declara- tion, CMS implemented changes and exceptions post-COVID that were outlined in specific 1135 waivers issued by CMS, which expire when the PHE is lifted. Those waivers are available at cms. gov/files/document/covid-dme.pdf.
“From an accreditation process perspective, our surveyors, as well as BOC internal facility accreditation staff, are aware of these waivers and are operating in accordance,” says Matt Gruskin, MBA, BOCO, BOCPD, CDME, credentialing director for the Board of Certification/Accreditation (bocusa.org). “It is clear that these waivers are temporary and in no way affect the ability for facilities to still meet the quality and supplier standards not ad- dressed the waivers.”
Early into the PHE, CMS’s waivers initially included a waiver from accreditation and reaccreditation activities for DMEPOS suppliers. Then, effective July 6, CMS resumed all those activities. It even allowed site surveys to be conducted on-site.
However, the AOs are continuing with virtual site survey ser- vices to comply with local guidelines, their own internal infection control policies, and the preferences and policies of their sup-
... but it’s not a closed loop. CMS still expects
an in-person survey to take place after the public health emergency is over.
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